Curiosity

In 7 Unexpected Benefits of Curiosity from @DavidGeurin Blog, David Geurin shares,

“We want our students to be more curious tomorrow than they are today. We want to design learning that develops curiosity. We believe in the benefits of curiosity.”

I want to teach lessons that have my students curious to want to learn more.

I like to teach them new information and have them retain the new information. Then at the end of the lesson, I ask them to think of three questions that they would want to learn the answers to in the future.

Having students ask more questions teaches them that we can always learn more. No one knows everything about all things. There may be a different aspect or perspective of what we learned that we didn’t look at during the lesson.

Every lesson plan should include some enrichment activities. These activities should further the learning of the original lesson. Enrichment activities can always extend learning beyond the lesson. If students finish early, these activities can help challenge them with more learning.

If you don’t have time for these enrichment activities, these might go into a notebook for a substitute to use if needed. Students will already have the initial knowledge they need, and these will challenge them if you are not there.

It is always good to encourage student’s curiosity and should never be stifled. Encourage them to ask questions and their need to want to know more. Always have them look to the future and what new learning can be built on what they have just learned.

How do you encourage curiosity? Please share.

Photo by Geraldine Lewa on Unsplash

Moving Forward

In We learn as we go from Seth Godin's Blog , Seth Godin shares,

“If we stop going, we stop learning…”

I tend to laugh when I hear students say how they can’t wait to get out of school so they can stop learning!

I feel we never stop learning. I look for something new to learn every day! I feel that I will never learn everything before I die.

If we are traveling, I look for something new that I’ve learned each day. I like to learn about people and cultures that I encounter. I might learn about the ship that we are sailing on or about the location we are visiting.

I’m afraid that if I didn’t learn something new every day, I would find life very boring! The thought of the possibility of learning something gets me excited. I’m always curious and wanting to know more. If I read something or see something, I have to jot something down in my notes to remember to get more information.

I’m always looking forward to the next thing that I’m going to learn.

I want to instill this curiosity and need to learn more in my students. I’m just not sure how to do it other than to be a role model for them. Every day I try to share with them the new thing that I had learned the day before. I encourage them to share something they had learned. No one is allowed to judge or make any negative comment about someone else’s new learning.

How do you instill the joy of learning in your students? Please share.

 Photo by Seven Song on Unsplash